Atonement: Purification Offering

Memory
Text: “Knowing that you were not redeemed with perishable
things like silver or gold from your futile way of life inherited from
your forefathers, but with precious blood, as of a lamb unblemished and
spotless, the blood of Christ” (1 Peter 1:18, 19,
NASB).

The sacrificial system is, probably,
the best known part of the sanctuary service because it’s the part that
points directly to Christ’s sacrifice. The blood of the animal that
died for the sinner becomes a symbol for the blood of Christ, who died
for us.

This week we will study several concepts linked to the
“purification offering” (also called “sin offering”), which was God’s
appointed way of helping us to understand better how He is reconciling
us to Himself through the only true sacrifice, Jesus Christ. At times
this lesson, uses the term purification offering
instead of sin offering to avoid the impression
that, for instance, giving birth is regarded as moral fault because the
new mother had to present such an offering (Lev. 12:5–8). This
sacrifice is best understood as a purification offering
for her ritual impurity, and not as a sacrifice because of sin.

Study this week’s lesson to
prepare for Sabbath, November 2.

Sunday October 27

Sin and Mercy

As anyone who knows the Lord can testify, sin separates us
from God. The good news is that the Lord has put in place a system to
heal the breach caused by sin and to bring us back to Him. At the
center of this system is, of course, the sacrifice.

There are basically three kinds of sin depicted in the Old
Testament, each corresponding to the sinner’s level of awareness while
he or she committed the transgression: inadvertent or unintentional
sin, deliberate or intentional sin, and rebellious sin. The
“purification offering” prescribed in Leviticus 4:1–5:13 applied to
cases of unintentional sin, as well as some cases of deliberate sin
(Lev. 5:1). While an
offering was available for these first two
categories, none is mentioned for rebellious sin, the most heinous
kind. Rebellious sin was done “in the face” of God, with a high hand,
and the rebel deserved nothing less than to be cut off (Num. 15:29–31);
however, it seems that even in these cases, such as with Manasseh, God
offered forgiveness (see 2 Chron.
33:12-13).

Is God justified in forgiving the sinner? After all, is not
the sinner unrighteous and, therefore, worthy to be condemned (see
Deut. 25:1)?

The story of the woman of Tekoa can illustrate the answer.
Pretending to be a widow as instructed by Joab, she went to King David,
seeking his judgment. Joab contrived a story about her two sons, one
having killed the other, that he asked her to tell David. Israelite law
demanded the death of the murderer (Num.
35:31), even though he was the
only male left in the family. The woman pleaded with David (who
functioned as judge) to let the guilty son go free.

Then, interestingly enough, she declared: “ ‘let the iniquity
be on me and on my father’s house, and the king and his throne be
guiltless’ ” (2 Sam. 14:9, NKJV).
Both the woman and David understood
that if the king would decide to let the murderer go free, then the
king himself would acquire the guilt of the murderer and that his
throne of justice (that is, his reputation as judge) would be in
jeopardy. The judge was morally responsible for what he decided. That
is why the woman offered to take over this guilt herself.

Similarly, God
takes over the
guilt of sinners in order to declare them
righteous. For us to be forgiven, God Himself must bear our
punishment.
This is
the legal reason why Christ had to die if
we were to be saved.

Monday October 28

Laying on of Hands

Read
Leviticus 4:27–31. What
ritual activities were performed
along with the sacrifice?

The goal of the offering was to remove sin and guilt from the
sinner, to transfer responsibility to the sanctuary, and to let the
sinner leave forgiven and cleansed. (In extremely rare cases one could
bring a certain amount of fine flour as a purification offering, and
although this purification offering was bloodless, it was understood
that “without shedding of blood there is no forgiveness” [Heb. 9:22,
NASB]).

The ritual itself included the laying on of hands, the death
of the animal, blood manipulation, the burning of fat, and the eating
of the animal’s flesh. The sinner who brought the offering was granted
forgiveness, but only after the blood ritual.

A crucial part of this process involved the laying on of hands
(Lev. 1:4, 4:4, 16:21).
This was done so that the offering “may be
accepted for him to make atonement on his behalf” (Lev.
1:4, NASB). The
offering applied only for the one who put his hands on the animal’s
head. According to Leviticus 16:21, the laying on of hands would be
accompanied by a confession of sin; this would acknowledge the transfer
of sin from the sinner to the innocent animal.

The slaughter was, of course, basic to any animal offering.
After the animal was killed, the spilled blood was used to make
atonement on the altar (Lev. 17:11).
Because the sins had been
transferred to the animal by the laying on of hands, we should
understand the death of the animal as a substitutionary death. The
animal died in the place of the sinner. This may explain why the act of
killing the animal had to be performed by the sinner, by the guilty
one, and not by the priest.

Next time you are tempted to sin,
envision Jesus dying on the cross and see yourself putting your hands
on His head and confessing your sins over Him. How might this concept,
played out in your mind, help you to understand just what it cost in
order to be forgiven? How could this idea help you to resist succumbing
to that temptation?

Tuesday October 29

Transfer of Sin

“The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with the
point of a diamond: it is graven upon the table of their heart, and
upon the horns of your altars.” (Jer.
17:1).

After the laying on of hands and the death of the animal, the
next ritual activity in the offering was the handling of the blood. The
priest applied the sacrificial blood to the horns of the altar. Because
blood was involved, this ritual part had to do with atonement (Lev.
17:11). If the sinner was a commoner or a leader, the
blood was applied
on the altar of burnt offering (Lev.
4:25, 30); if the high priest or
the entire congregation was the sinner, the blood was applied to the
inner altar, the altar of incense (Lev.
4:7, 18).

What did it mean to smear blood on the horns of the altar? The
horns were the highest points of the altar and, as such, could signify
the vertical dimension of salvation. The blood was brought into the
presence of God.

Jeremiah 17:1 is of particular importance for understanding
what happens: the sin of Judah is engraved “upon the tablet of their
heart, and on the horns of their altars” (NASB). Although the text is
referring to altars involved in idolatrous worship, the principle
remains the same: the altar reflected the moral condition of the
people. Blood transferred the guilt of sin. The blood smeared on the
horns of the altar transferred sin away from the sinner to the
sanctuary, a crucially important truth in order for us to understand
the plan of salvation as revealed in the earthly sanctuary service,
which symbolizes the work of Christ in heaven for us.

Because the blood carried sin, it also defiled the sanctuary.
We find an example of this defiling in cases where the blood of the
purification offering splashed accidentally on a garment. The garment
needed to be cleansed, not just anywhere, but only “in a holy place”
(Lev. 6:27, NKJV).

Finally, the burning of the fat on the altar indicated that
everything about the purification offering belonged to God (Lev. 3:16).

Thanks to the death of Jesus, symbolized by those sacrifices,
our sin has been taken away from us, placed on Him, and transferred to
the heavenly sanctuary. This is central to the plan of salvation.

How does the sanctuary service
help us to understand our utter dependence on God for forgiveness of
our sins? What comfort does this truth bring you? At the same time,
what important responsibilities follow? (See 1 Peter 1:22.)

Wednesday October 30

Bearing Sin

By eating the offering at a holy place, the officiating priest
would “bear away the guilt” of the offender. The meat of this offering
was not just payment for the priests’ services (otherwise Moses would
not have been so angry with Aaron’s sons for not eating of it), but it
was a crucial part of the atonement.

How does the eating of the sacrifice contribute to the process
of atonement? Eating was required only of those offerings in which
blood did not enter the holy place; that is, the offerings of the
leader and the commoner. The Bible explicitly said that by eating the
sacrifice the priests would “bear away the guilt,” which would “make
atonement” for the sinner. To carry the sinner’s guilt implies that the
sinner now goes free.

In the Hebrew, Exodus 34:7 says that God “carries iniquity,”
the same two Hebrew words used in Leviticus 10:16, where it’s clear
that the act of the priest’s carrying the sin is what brings
forgiveness to the sinner. Otherwise, without that transfer, the sinner
would have to bear his own sin (Lev.
5:1), and that, of course, would
lead to death (Rom. 6:23).

The priest’s work of bearing another’s sin is exactly what
Christ did for us. He died in our place. We conclude, then, that the
priestly work at the earthly sanctuary typifies Christ’s work for us,
because He has taken upon Himself the guilt of our sins.

“The blessing comes because of pardon; pardon comes through
faith that the sin, confessed and repented of, is borne by the great
Sin-bearer. Thus from Christ cometh all our blessings. His death is an
atoning sacrifice for our sins. He is the great medium through whom we
receive the mercy and favor of God. He, then, is indeed the Originator,
the Author, as well as the Finisher, of our faith.”—Ellen G. White, Manuscript
Releases, vol. 9, p. 302.

Imagine standing before God in
judgment. What would you lean on—your good works, your Sabbath keeping,
all the nice things you had done and all the bad things you hadn’t
done? Do you really think this would be enough to justify you before a
holy and perfect God? If not, what’s your only hope in that judgment?

Thursday October 31

Forgiveness

Read
Micah 7:18–20. What
picture of God do we find in this
passage?

The last three verses of the book of Micah focus on the
relationship of God with His remnant. The text describes beautifully
why God is unrivaled. He is incomparable because of His forgiving love
and grace. The outstanding characteristic of God, as revealed in Micah
(and elsewhere), is His willingness to forgive. Micah emphasizes this
point by using various expressions for God’s attributes (vs. 18) and
achievements (vss. 19,
20). His
attributes and achievements are
explained in the language of the Israelite Credo in
Exodus 34:6-7, one of the most beloved biblical descriptions of the
character of God.

Interestingly, several crucial words in Micah 7:18–20 are also
used in the Servant Song in Isaiah
53, pointing to the fact that the
means of forgiveness comes from the One who is suffering for the people.

Unfortunately, not everyone will enjoy God’s saving grace.
God’s forgiveness is neither cheap nor automatic. It involves loyalty.
Those who have experienced His grace respond in kind, such as we see in
Micah 6:8, a central text in the book. Just as God “delights in
unchanging love,” NASB, He calls His remnant to “love kindness” NASB.
His people will imitate God’s character. Their lives will reflect His
love, compassion, and kindness.

In the Bible, Micah 7:18–20, with its emphasis on forgiveness,
is immediately followed by Nahum 1:2-3, with its emphasis on judgment.
This unfolds the two dimensions of God’s dealings with us: forgiving
the repentant and punishing the wicked. Both sides belong to God. He is
Savior and Judge. These two aspects of God’s character are
complementary, not contrary. A compassionate God can also be a just
God. Knowing this, we can rest assured in His love, in His forgiveness,
and in His ultimate justice.

Read Micah 6:8. What good is a
profession of faith without these principles to reveal the reality of
that profession? What’s easier, to claim faith in Jesus or to live out
that faith, as expressed in Micah 6:8? How can you better do the latter?

“As Christ at His ascension appeared in the presence of God to
plead His blood in behalf of penitent believers, so the priest in the
daily ministration sprinkled the blood of the sacrifice in the holy
place in the sinner’s behalf.

“The blood of Christ, while it was to release the repentant
sinner from the condemnation of the law, was not to cancel the sin; it
would stand on record in the sanctuary until the final atonement; so in
the type the blood of the purification offering removed the sin from
the penitent, but it rested in the sanctuary until the Day of
Atonement.”—Ellen G. White, Patriarchs and Prophets,
p. 357.

Discussion Questions:

Some have argued that the whole concept of substitution is
unfair. Why should the innocent die in the place of the guilty?
However, because this is a truth that is not only clearly taught in the
Bible but is central to the core theme of the Bible, how do we answer
that charge? Might the “unfairness” of it all help us to understand the
grace that was displayed in order to bring us forgiveness? That is, in
what ways might this “unfairness” help to show just how great and
merciful and loving our God really is?

As a class, read Micah 6:8. What are we being told there?
More importantly, how can we learn to fufill this explicit command? How
do we learn to do all these things, including to “walk humbly with thy
God”? What does that mean? How can walking humbly with God translate
into walking humbly with others?

Think about what it means that the only way we could be
saved was through the death of Jesus. What does this amazing truth
teach us about just how bad sin is, and why any effort to save
ourselves by our own works is as fruitless as scrubbing a pig in hopes
of making it kosher?

In class, go over the final question at the end of
Wednesday ’s lesson. Discuss your answers and the implications of your
answers in terms of the gospel and that which God has done for us in
order to save us.

Inside
Story~
SUD Division:
India

The Sword and the Spirit

Joseph hadn’t been a Christian long. In his zeal to share his
new faith with others, he had come to this village as a Global Mission
pioneer to teach others about Christ. Some listened, but others were
angry that a Christian had come to stir up their village. They found
Joseph and demanded vengeance.

Joseph prayed as the mob surrounded him. Then he spoke to the
leader, who brandished a sword. “Brother, I’ve come in peace and in the
name of Jesus,” he said. “My God wants to be your God, too.”

The crowd quieted, and the leader challenged Joseph with his
eyes. “My little girl has been paralyzed for six years. She can’t move,
and she can’t speak. If your God can heal my daughter, then we will
leave you alone. But if not, then we will kill you.” The man turned and
walked toward his home. The mob pushed Joseph to follow. Joseph and the
mob leader entered the house together.

Joseph looked at Kamala, the little girl, and realized that
only a miracle would save her life-and his. He knelt by her bed and
asked God to heal Kamala if it was His will. “Help this family to
understand that You are the all-powerful God,” he prayed.

Joseph finished his prayer and stood up. He continued to
silently pray for the child, and within minutes Kamala moved slightly. She
stretched one leg and then the other; then she stretched her arms.
Slowly she sat up. The family watched, speechless with joy, as Kamala
pulled herself up on her once-withered legs and took a step.

News of the girl’s miraculous healing spread rapidly through
the village. Many wanted to know about Joseph’s God. The man who had
brandished a sword and planned to kill Joseph now works with him to
teach others about the living God. Dozens have turned to Jesus and
worship Him instead of their former gods.

Our mission offerings help support the work of men and women
such as Joseph who serve as Global Mission pioneers around the world.
Thank you for having a part in the work of God through your offerings.

Joseph and his wife served
as Global Mission pioneers in
western India.

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